AS CENTRAL groups start to fan out for floor inspection of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) implementation from Monday, a number of states corresponding to Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are scrambling to conduct their very own “bodily verification” and “evaluate” of the works carried out below the flagship rural faucet water scheme.
Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for six.37% of the JJM schemes or tasks accredited throughout the nation however 18.56% of the whole value (Rs 1.54 lakh crore of the whole Rs 8.29 lakh crore), has deputed 75 nodal officers, one for every district within the state. These officers have been rushed from Lucknow to the district headquarters.
In an order issued on Might 19 — the day the Centre introduced that 100 groups of Central Nodal Officers will conduct floor inspection — Amrita Soni, Chief Workers Officer within the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Workplace, requested the state nodal officers to achieve their respective districts by Might 23 night.
Over the following two days, Might 24 and 25, the nodal officers carried out “bodily verification” of the JJM works of their assigned districts. They’re required to submit their experiences to the state authorities by Monday, because the central groups go away for his or her assigned districts.
The Uttar Pradesh authorities’s nodal officers have been handed a questionnaire containing 5 questions. They’re: 1. At current, is ingesting water being provided immediately from the tubewell or by way of the overhead tank? 2. What number of homes have been to be given water connection (goal)? 3. What number of homes have been given water connections? 4. Are all homes getting water 2 hours within the morning and a pair of hours within the night? 5. If not, why?
Along with the JJM works, the Uttar Pradesh authorities has requested its nodal officers to additionally conduct bodily verification of Gau Ashrayasthal (cowsheds) and two works of value over Rs 50 crore.
In Jammu and Kashmir, a Home committee headed by Nationwide Convention member Hasnain Masoodi held its first assembly on Might 22. The committee was constituted by Meeting Speaker Abdul Rahim Relatively in March this yr “to probe into the alleged irregularities” within the JJM implementation within the Union Territory.
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Eye on transparency
The initiatives taken by the Centre and the states to evaluate the works below JJM are much-awaited measures to usher in transparency and guarantee accountability within the implementation of the scheme. This can even pave the best way for early approval of the funding for the second section (till 2028) of JJM.
In Rajasthan, Public Well being Engineering Minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary has been holding evaluate conferences on the district headquarters to evaluate numerous schemes, together with the JJM, below his ministry. Final week, he held such evaluate conferences in Dholpur, Jhunjhunu and Sikar districts.
In Madhya Pradesh, P Narahari, Principal Secretary, Public Well being Engineering Division, toured a number of districts, together with Indore, Ujjain and Narmadapuram, in current days to carry evaluate of the JJM implementation.
On Might 19, the Centre introduced that it’s going to ship 100 groups of Central Nodal Officers for “floor inspection” of the JJM schemes throughout the nation. The transfer adopted a gathering chaired by the Cupboard Secretary on Might 8 to evaluate the mission’s schemes.
An order to this impact was issued by the Division of Personnel and Coaching, naming 99 IAS officers who will examine 183 schemes throughout 135 districts in 29 states and Union Territories. Of those schemes, learnt to have been chosen randomly, Madhya Pradesh has probably the most (29), adopted by Rajasthan and Odisha (21 every), Karnataka (19), Uttar Pradesh (18), Kerala (10), and Gujarat and Tamil Nadu (8 every).
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The Centre has requested the groups to scrutinise data associated to the design, planning and value of works and to do “on-spot excavation” on any pattern stretch of pipeline and verify whether or not pipe materials are as per the Detailed Challenge Report.
On Friday, a coaching session was organised for the Central Nodal Officers by which 70 officers participated. The remaining are anticipated to attend the coaching session on Monday.
The Centre’s transfer to conduct floor inspection got here two months after an Expenditure Secretary-led panel proposed a 46% lower to the Water Assets Ministry’s proposal demanding Rs 2.79 lakh crore for finishing the mission over 4 years ending December 2028. The lower got here following robust questions raised by the Finance Ministry over value escalation, and issues in some authorities sections that work contracts have been inflated in some states.
Because the launch of the JJM in 2019, 6.4 lakh water provide schemes with complete estimated value of Rs 8.29 lakh crore — greater than double of the scheme’s authentic outlay of Rs 3.60 lakh crore (Centre: Rs 2.08 lakh crore; states: Rs 1.52 lakh crore) — have been accredited by the states.
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To satisfy the extra requirement of funds, the Jal Shakti Ministry had approached the Expenditure Finance Committee to approve Rs 2.79 lakh crore extra Central funding over and above Rs 2.08 lakh crore. Nonetheless, the panel really helpful solely Rs 1.51 lakh crore because the Central share, which is 46% decrease than Rs 2.79 lakh crore sought by the Jal Shakti Ministry, as reported by The Indian Categorical on April 21, 2023.
On Might 21, 2025, The Indian Categorical reported that an examination of the info uploaded by states and UTs on the JJM dashboard confirmed {that a} essential change in tender pointers three years in the past lifted the verify on expenditure, and led to value escalations. This resulted in extra prices of Rs 16,839 crore for 14,586 schemes, a rise of 14.58% from their estimated value.